A former flyweight title challenger and difficult puzzle to solve in the cage because of his movement, speed and power, Dodson is an outstanding litmus test for the surging Russian at this point in his career.
Though he’s alternated wins and losses since relocating to the bantamweight ranks, the long-time Jackson-Wink MMA Academy staple has given some of the best fighters at flyweight and bantamweight fits over the years and Yan acknowledges that he’ll have his hands full with Dodson on Saturday.
“With every fight I become more experienced and focused,” offered the Russian rising star. “I realize where I am at and that’s it going to only get harder, so I’m very concentrated for fight week.
“He moves a lot,” Yan said of Dodson, who enters Saturday’s contest off a split decision loss to Jimmie Rivera in September. “He’s a very explosive and impulsive fighter. I need to be focused and do my work, but I think everything is going to be all right.
“I need to find the target and hit it repeatedly,” he continued, giving his thoughts on how this weekend’s main card clash might play out. “By the second or third round, he will have damage and there will be an opportunity to finish the fight.
“But I don’t have a goal to finish the fight; my goal is to win and it doesn’t matter how.”
